This invention relates to the field of athletics and exercise training. The invention enables the individual to train for a sport, exercise or engage in activity while simultaneously wearing the Athletic Training Gloves. While training in any sport, exercising or engaging in activity, the athletic training gloves increase and develop muscular strength in the fingers, wrists, forearms and upper arms.
In many types of sports, part of the Athletic Training program usually requires physical conditioning. This physical conditioning often includes a weight training program. The weight training program is performed on one or a combination of weight training facilities, such as free weights for free body movements or weight machines which concentrate on specific muscle areas. Each of these weight training styles as well as most of the other exercise equipment available are related in that they share a common goal of increasing and developing muscular strength.
This weight training method of increasing and developing muscular strength is well known and frequently used. However, the weight training part of physical conditioning is performed at one time and the practice of the sport, exercise or activity is usually performed at another. Therefore, the two separate activities must be performed independently in two allocated time segments.
A more advantageous and beneficial method of weight training is to combine the weight training program with the actual training or practicing of the sport, exercise or activity. This can be accomplished by simultaneously practicing the desired sport, exercise or activity while wearing the Athletic Training Gloves of the invention.
The Athletic Training Gloves increase and develop muscular strength in the fingers, wrists, forearms and upper arms as the sport, exercise, or activity is being performed.
The prior art discloses a variety of exercise or sporttype gloves These range from sport gloves for providing grip to exercise gloves having discreet weights placed in the fingertips in order to resist the movement of the fingers and there by strengthen the finger muscles. U.S. Pat. No. 2,736,034 disclose such a fingertip-type weighted device. Each fingertip of the glove has a discreet weight to resist the motion of the fingers when the glove is being worn. This device is particularly suited for operations, such as typing and playing musical instruments. The U.S. Pat. No. 2,736,034 device is dependent on gravity for the direction of its resistance and only exercises the muscles which lift the fingers. The device is totally devoid of any assistance or exercise to the wrist, forearm, upper arm, or back of the hand, other devices, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,138,100 or 4,197,592 or 3,707,730 are typically suited more for grip and hand formation than for exercise and muscle development in the wrists, forearms and upper arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,220 discloses a glove and hand exerciser having a plurality of discreet stiffening elements inserted into the glove and each finger canal to resist the movement of the fingers through a cantilever type stiffening action. However, this type of glove and hand exercise does not provide the type of multi-directional resistance necessary to strengthen the fingers, wrists, forearms and upper arms.